


Swords and Staff

by DarthEames



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Cullavellan Week 2017, F/M, Mages and Templars, Mutual Pining, Sparring, UST, Unresolved Sexual Tension, implied solavellan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 15:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12084288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthEames/pseuds/DarthEames
Summary: Nobody knows how to fight with a stick, apparently.





	Swords and Staff

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DistracttheGoddess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistracttheGoddess/gifts).



“I still can't believe you're alive. I saw Templars take you away with my own eyes!”

Neria laughed, and it sounded so lively and fresh Myr felt like she was a little kid again. Her lips formed a little smile on their own. A group of Inquisition scouts turned to towards the beautiful sound, smiles on their faces too. It seems like the Warden's sheer presence made the tension disappear. 

“They don’t kill you at the circle, Mor”, laughter still lingering in her voice, Neria slowed her steps. “Well, not immediately”, she added, looking down the stairs at the Templars still in the middle of their training, where Ser Barris was attending to the archers at the range.

“I suppose”, Myr let out a huff and stuffed both her hands in the deep pockets of her pants. It was evening already and the cold mountain air had reached their courtyard. With all that happened today, they spent an entire day in the War room talking about everything starting from how Neria ended up a Warden-Commander and ending with a plan for infiltrating the Winter palace so she did not get a chance to grab any of her outerwear. 

A cheerful barking came from the inside of the castle, making Mornemyr turn away from her cousin. A moment later human-Cullen quickly walked out of the Main Hall, followed by the dog-Cullen who was almost jumping excitedly. 

“Inquisitor!” Cullen greeted her with a nod as if it wasn't a ten minutes ago that they were in the same room. Myr felt assaulted by the sudden feeling of warmth somewhere deep in her chest. The evening sun painted commander's hair golden, and after a long day it was shiny like a halo. Their eyes met and she felt her ears heat up - she couldn't help but be drawn to their clear color of amber stones. She kept a few ones like this on her worktable for some reason. His lips were moving as if he was saying something but all she could see was a thin scar that moved along along with his mouth. She wondered if it would feel any different from her own if she touched it. She probably shouldn't. But Mythal as her witness she wanted to.

A painful nudge on her lower back brought her back to the world of the living. Cullen looked like he was mentally stuck as well with his eyebrows furrowed, but sudden help came from behind the Inquisitor. 

“Hey, Cullen”, Neria half-hugged half shook Myr, a shit eating grin flashing bright across her lips. “Please forgive my little cousin, she's still in shock from the fact that Templars don't bite your head off at the Harrowing”, she laughed again, looking how Myr's eyes turned into slits.

“Warden-Commander!” Cullen stuttered, eyebrows rising in clear surprise and he made a step back. “I didn't see you here…”

“Please, Cullen, after all that's been between us I hoped you'd call me by my name,” Neria was enjoying the view that unfolded in front of her. Myr’s eyes immediately darkened and all her features became somehow sharper. Cullen, in turn, looked completely flustered rubbing his neck in embarrassment. It was absolutely fun for the Warden to watch these two stuck on each other, but she had a more pressing issue to attend. 

“I hate to interrupt our cozy situation here, but I just saw a fellow circle mage infiltrate the training grounds,” she pointed her finger towards the group of young men who appeared to be in the middle of an intense argument.

“Not this again!” Cullen sighed, rubbing his palms over his suddenly tired face. “Excuse me, Inquisitor, I need to take care of this”, he nodded apologetically and ran down the rest of the stairs. 

“I’m, uhm… gonna check on them real quick?” Mornemyr muttered, already following the Commander towards the training ring. Neria only shrugged but opted to stay on the top of the stairs - it was the best point to watch over what was happening around the castle anyway.

***

“You people can't do shit without your precious magic!” one of the younger Templars was especially eager to prove his point and didn't see the commander shaped storm coming down on him.

“I bet you can't even lift your sword unless you suck on a lyrium bottle!” the mage seemed to be engrossed in the argument as well, and both of them were about to jump at each other. Cullen was ready to stand between them before something horrible could happen but before he could do that a wave of cold passed right through him leaving him shivering and Mornemyr materialized between the two, looking furious.

“Say it again to my face, little boy”, she pointed her finger right in the middle of the templar’s chest armor. The line left Cullen almost snorting through his worry. Despite how tall the Inquisitor was, she looked like the wind would just blow her away any minute now. The fully armored warrior in front of her twice her size was apparently blown away too because he seemed unable to squeeze any words out of his mouth.

“Ha! Piss off!” The circle mage behind her back apparently lacked any survival instinct.

“I’d shut the fuck up if I were you, dress”, Mornemyr’s flaming gaze turned toward the second half of the problem. “You think you can learn a spell and you’re on top of the world already? You think you can always hide behind somebody’s back and look for a book while others have to protect you? This chantry boy right here would slice you in half before you remember how to call your mother!” The poor mage were gradually turning red along the speech and looked like a fish out of the water with his mouth agape. The crowd of the local inhabitants started to gather around, someone already cheering for the Inquisitor. 

“And you”, she whirled back to the templar, pointing at his chest area again. “Get ready. I’ll show you what a real mage can do.” Cullen immediately stopped laughing and hurried towards the group.

“Wait, wait, what do you mean you will show him?” he eased himself between Myr’s finger and a poor boy who was scared out of his pants. He carefully pushed him back towards the other templars. 

“Cullen”, Mornemyr’s face lost its sharpness but she still looked angry with her eyes shining bright two lanterns in the fading light. She pointed at him as well. “Commander, I’m tired of the endless bickering amongst the ranks. I’m gonna show them an example before these little naive daisies go outside of the castle tomorrow and get themselves murdered!”

“Inquisitor, please calm down”, Cullen was worried but he didn’t know what he was worried about more. Mornemyr - he loved how her name rolled from his tongue, even though he’d never call her that aloud - was rarely this angry and, therefore, was very dangerous now, but he would not let her harm his troops. “I will not have you fight them, it would be unfair.” He gently covered her judgmental hand with his own, earning a weird look in response. 

“Alright”, Myr made a step back, her intense glare going over him checking if he was worth it. “You and me, then. Is that fair?”

“This is ridiculous”, Cullen let out a weak laugh. She wasn’t serious, was she? She definitely looked like she was. 

“Why, are you afraid of a mage, Commander? I wouldn’t take you as a coward.” A significantly louder laugh rolled amongst the crowd. Mornemyr appeared even taller now somehow, confidence visible in her stance and the challenging smile on her lips. Cullen couldn’t help but stare at her scar for a moment. It was still fresh and red and it was mocking him to give in to the temptation. He felt his blood start boiling. He might not be able to have her but he would not let her mock him in front of his soldiers. 

“Fine”, Cheers accompanied his words. He was going to regret this later. “What do you have in mind?”

“You and me, no magic, weapon of choice only”, Myr was already putting on her gloves she took out of her pocket. Cullen looked over her slender figure - she wasn’t wearing armor so he probably shouldn’t wear it either. What was she thinking anyway? His weapon of choice was a sword and shield, he would break her in half the moment she comes close enough. The only option for her was to wear a full metal suit but there she was standing in front of him in a thin shirt and pants, her only protection the leather guards on her forearms and ankles. This woman was a mystery to him since they day he figured out she was indeed a woman. 

His brain was working in full capacity trying to figure out how he could go easy on Mornemyr without her noticing it. She would probably go for speed and then try to attack him with a dagger - he wouldn’t be surprised if she had one hidden somewhere. His shield would be enough to knock her out then. As he shed his own armor and went to put in in a pile near the training dummies he heard the seeker address him.

“I realize you’ve never seen The Inquisitor fight.” Cassandra sported an expression of utter disgust on her face towards all that was happening. “I’d ask you for one thing. Please, pay attention if you don’t want to embarrass yourself. She’s more capable than you can imagine.”

“Uhm... Thank you?” he felt even more uncomfortable now than before. He trusted the seeker with his life and hearing something like that from her was more than enough of a sign but he had to keep his word. Cullen took his sword and shield from her and went back to the main arena. Mornemyr was still there but there was a staff in her hands now. 

“What’s with the staff? I thought you said no magic”, he pointed out. He would agree he didn’t stand a chance against her this way, especially since he cut out the lyrium. 

“I keep my word, Commander, you can always trust me on that.” Her smile was cocky and promised him a bad time. Cullen felt the corners of his lips turn up too - at least it was nice to see her in a better mood. Mornemyr seemed especially somber after they lost so many people at the Adamant fortress. 

“Fine.” He let his sword swing from side to side, definitely not intimidating his opponent. “We fight until one of us is on the ground. No blood and certainly no deadly injuries, we can’t afford to lose the Inquisitor after all,” with a smirk he stood in a defensive stance, his shield in front of him and the sword at the ready. 

“I’d feel very sorry if we had to look for a new commander, I kinda like the one we have now.” Her words and more so the wink of her wickedly shining eye distracted Cullen for a moment and he missed how she quickly moved towards him. The first hit landed on his shield but he knew it was a test one. Now that he focused, he couldn’t believe she was holding a regular staff as a physical weapon. They used to train with when he was a young recruit. Now the words of the seeker made sense - if Mornemyr was fast enough she actually had a chance. 

The next few minutes showed him he didn’t know a single thing about Dalish elves. Mornemyr was the devil and she was everywhere. She ran around him like a lightning and before he was able to fully turn towards her with his shield between them, he would feel the end of the staff hitting him on the side. In a rare moment when he could swing his sword, she would block with middle part, pushing him back with the whole strength of her body. Or she would just somersault away from the blade. Cullen closed his eyes for a moment, he already felt dizzy from all the moving around. He was hitting with a half his strength, worried about harming the Inquisitor, and his shield had grew tired already from the constant rain of attacks. This needed to end soon. 

The crowd was ecstatic, judging from the cheers, Mornemyr was about to perform another stunt. Maybe this was his chance. However, Cullen wasn’t fast enough again and this time the staff landed on his right hand with such force he cried from the pain and dropped his sword. Where was this strength coming from? Their Inquisitor seemed so fragile. But apparently, this wasn’t a problem since she was charging him again. She slammed a staff into the ground and jumped, using the momentum, hitting the shield with her whole weight of her body. Cullen was forced back and almost tripped over, losing his shield too when he tried to hold his balance. The happy laughter that followed was his undoing when he took the next hit on his bare hands, but it died quickly when at the last moment he ripped the staff out of Mornemyr hands with all the force he had left. Thrown off balance in the middle of her body slam she almost landed on her ass but this time his reflexes were finally quick enough that he caught he by her hand and pulled her close, pressing her into his chest. 

The surroundings disappeared when Mornemyr’s scent filled his nostrils, the sweat mixed with fresh mint and citrus. Her chest was rapidly moving up and down in tandem with his own, adrenalin burning inside both of them. They were so close Cullen could see the pattern in the blue of her dilated eyes, could feel her hot breath on his face. Another inch and he would be able to know how that new scar of hers tasted like, and he was sure she wouldn’t mind if her fingers digging into the muscle of his shoulders were any indication. 

But alas, somebody in the crowd whistled and he remembered who and where he was and how inappropriate it would be to finally give in to this enduring weakness of his. He let out a heavy sigh and let go, giving the Inquisitor freedom to move. She did so immediately with a face white as a sheet and an expression of a stone, leaving himwondering if she wouldn't really object him kissing her. She was already taken after all, and today he was playing a game he didn’t have a chance to win. 

“Let's call it a tie?” Mornemyr’s voice was high and shaky, and Cullen would give a hand to know the reason. Just to prove to himself he was a lost cause. He nodded in return anyway.

“I'll make sure our people practice physical combat more”, he didn't even notice when the crowd went silent, people probably wondering what was happening between them. He will have to keep himself in check from now on. The Inquisitor looked at him one last time, and the sadness in her eyes made a pain throb deep in his chest. She then disappeared in the whirl of snowflakes and left him alone to collect his armor. He knew the heavy stones that were pushing him down would stay with him for a long time. 

***

It was late into the night when the last remains of the crowd disappeared, revealing the ever-silent bystander. His eyes shone pale purple as he stepped away from the wall behind the training dummies. If anyone were still around, they would say a small smile played across his lips, but it wasn't a smile of a nice man. It was a smile of a person confident in his plan, and it grew even wider as he walked back to his place, every elegant sway of narrow hips intact with a drop of a sand grain in the clock of the Universe.

**Author's Note:**

> Now that you're done please remember to give me a thumbs up and leave a comment, it'll sure make my day!


End file.
